U.S. patent application number 11/592245 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-10 for method and arrangement for providing automated searching service on the real estate market.
Invention is credited to Jussi Nurmio, Mikko Ranin, Esa Rauhala.
Application Number | 20070106566 11/592245 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35458727 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070106566 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ranin; Mikko ; et
al. |
May 10, 2007 |
Method and arrangement for providing automated searching service on
the real estate market
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and a system for providing an
automated searching service operating in a data network on a real
estate market. A potential buyer looking for a suitable object is
represented by a purchase advertisement provided with certain
constraint requirements. A potential seller selling a certain
object is represented by a sales advertisement provided with the
distinguishing features of the object on sale. The purchase
advertisement and the sales advertisement are stored in a data
base. The automated searching service is symmetrical such that the
potential seller is offered an opportunity to receive a report
presenting the purchase advertisements selected on the basis of
predefined requirements and, correspondingly, the potential buyer
is offered an opportunity to receive a report presenting the sales
advertisements selected on the basis of predefined
requirements.
Inventors: |
Ranin; Mikko; (Espoo,
FI) ; Nurmio; Jussi; (Helsinki, FI) ; Rauhala;
Esa; (Helsinki, FI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
YOUNG & THOMPSON
745 SOUTH 23RD STREET
2ND FLOOR
ARLINGTON
VA
22202
US
|
Family ID: |
35458727 |
Appl. No.: |
11/592245 |
Filed: |
November 3, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0601 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/026 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 4, 2005 |
FI |
20051118 |
Claims
1. A method for providing a searching service operating in a data
network on a real estate market, the method comprising: as a
response to placing a sales advertisement provided with one or more
distinguishing features of an object on sale, said sales
advertisement is stored in a data base, as a response to placing a
purchase advertisement provided with one or more constraint
requirements of an object being searched for, said purchase
advertisement is stored in the data base, on the basis of the
combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature related to
said sales advertisement and at least one constraint requirement
related to said purchase advertisement, it is at least partly
determined whether a piece of information expressing the existence
of said purchase advertisement is presented as a response to a
reporting request related to said sales advertisement, and on the
basis of the combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature
related to said sales advertisement and at least one constraint
requirement related to said purchase advertisement, it is at least
partly determined whether a piece of information expressing the
existence of said sales advertisement is presented as a response to
a reporting request related to said purchase advertisement.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the information
expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement is
presented as a response to the reporting request related to said
sales advertisement, and the information expressing the existence
of said sales advertisement is presented as a response to the
reporting request related to said purchase advertisement only, if
no distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement
breaks any of the constraint requirements related to said purchase
advertisement.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein a range variable is
formed on the basis of the constraint requirements related to said
purchase advertisement and the distinguishing features related to
said sales advertisement, which on a predefined scale,
quantitatively measures the difference of said distinguishing
features from said constraint requirements, and on the basis of
which it is at least partly determined, whether the information
expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement is
presented as a response to the reporting request related to said
sales advertisement, and whether the information expressing the
existence of said sales advertisement is presented as a response to
the reporting request related to said purchase advertisement.
4. A method according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the
following: on the basis of at least one parameter setting related
to said purchase advertisement, a determination is at least partly
made, whether the piece of information expressing the existence of
said purchase advertisement is shown as a response to the reporting
request related to said sales advertisement, and on the basis of at
least one parameter setting related to said sales advertisement, a
determination is at least partly made, whether the piece of
information expressing the existence of said sales advertisement is
shown as a response to the reporting request related to said
purchase advertisement.
5. A method according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the
following: on the basis of a parameter setting related to said
purchase advertisement, a determination is made, whether a
constraint requirement or other information related to said
purchase advertisement is shown as a response to the reporting
request related to said sales advertisement, and on the basis of a
parameter setting related to said sales advertisement, a
determination is made, whether a distinguishing feature or other
information related to said sales advertisement is shown as a
response to the reporting request related to said purchase
advertisement.
6. A method according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the
following: on the basis of at least one parameter setting related
to said purchase advertisement, a determination is at least partly
made, whether the piece of information expressing the existence of
said purchase advertisement is shown in a form visible to the
public, and on the basis of at least one parameter setting related
to said sales advertisement, a determination is at least partly
made, whether the piece of information expressing the existence of
said sales advertisement is shown in a form visible to the
public.
7. A method according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the
following: on the basis of a parameter setting related to said
purchase advertisement, it is determined, whether a constraint
requirement or other piece of information related to said purchase
advertisement is shown in a form visible in public, and on the
basis of a parameter setting related to said sales advertisement,
it is determined, whether a distinguishing feature or other piece
of information related to said sales advertisement is shown in a
form visible to the public.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein, on the basis of a
parameter setting related to said sales advertisement, it is
determined, whether a certain distinguishing feature related to
said sales advertisement is conditional or unconditional.
9. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to placing
said sales advertisement, it is at least partly determined on the
basis of the combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature
related to said sales advertisement and at least one constraint
requirement related to an older purchase advertisement, whether a
notification of change is sent to the potential buyer who has
placed said older purchase advertisement.
10. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to
placing said purchase advertisement, it is at least partly
determined on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
constraint requirement related to said purchase advertisement and
at least one distinguishing feature related to an older sales
advertisement, whether a notification of change is sent to the
potential seller who has placed said older sales advertisement.
11. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to a
change in the distinguishing feature or other piece of information
related to said sales advertisement, it is at least partly
determined on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement and at
least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement, whether a notification of change is sent to the
potential buyer who has placed said purchase advertisement.
12. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to a
change in the constraint requirement or other piece of information
related to said purchase advertisement, it is at least partly
determined on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
constraint requirement related to said purchase advertisement and
at least one distinguishing feature related to said sales
advertisement, whether a notification of change is sent to the
potential seller who has placed said sales advertisement.
13. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to the
data base to the removal of said purchase advertisement from said
data base, it is at least partly determined on the basis of the
combined effect of at least one constraint requirement related to
said purchase advertisement and at least one distinguishing feature
related to said sales advertisement, whether a notification of
change is sent to the potential seller who has placed said sales
advertisement that was stored in said data base.
14. A method according to claim 1, wherein, as a response to the
removal of said sales advertisement from the data base, it is at
least partly determined on the basis of the combined effect of at
least one distinguishing feature related to said sales
advertisement and at least one constraint requirement related to
said purchase advertisement, whether a notification of change is
sent to the potential buyer who has placed said purchase
advertisement that was stored in the data base.
15. A method according to claim 9, wherein said notification of
change is an email message.
16. A method according to claim 9, wherein said notification of
change is a text or multimedia message (SMS, MMS) that is sent to a
mobile phone.
17. A method according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the
following: as a response to storing said sales advertisement in the
data base, the distinguishing features related to said sales
advertisement are compared with the constraint requirements related
to at least one older purchase advertisement, and situational data
related to said sales advertisement is formed, showing, on a
predefined scale, to what extent the distinguishing features
related to said sales advertisement satisfy the constraint
requirements related to said older purchase advertisement, and, at
least partly on the basis of said situational data, it is
determined, whether a piece of information expressing the existence
of said older purchase advertisement is shown as a response to the
reporting request related to said sales advertisement, and as a
response to storing said purchase advertisement in the data base,
the constraint requirements related to said purchase advertisement
are compared with the distinguishing features related to at least
one older sales advertisement, and situational data is formed,
related to said purchase advertisement and showing, on a predefined
scale, to what extent the distinguishing features related to said
older sales advertisement satisfy the constraint requirements
related to said purchase advertisement, and it is determined at
least partly on the basis of said situational data, whether the
piece of information expressing the existence of said older sales
advertisement is shown as a response to the reporting request
related to said purchase advertisement.
18. A method according to claim 17, wherein said situational data
related to the sales advertisement is updated as a response to a
change in the distinguishing feature or other information related
to said sales advertisement, and said situational data related to
the purchase advertisement is updated as a response to a change in
the constraint requirement or other information related to said
purchase advertisement.
19. A system for providing a searching service operating in a data
network on a real estate market, the system comprising: an
advertisement data base, a sales advertisement developer for
producing a sales advertisement provided with one or more
distinguishing features of the object on sale in said advertisement
data base, a purchase advertisement developer for producing a
purchase advertisement provided with one or more constraint
requirements of the object being searched for in said advertisement
data base, a seller's report developer for producing a sales report
corresponding to said sales advertisement, a buyer's report
developer for producing a buyer's report corresponding to said
purchase advertisement, and a comparing element arranged to at
least partly determine on the basis of the combined effect of at
least one distinguishing feature related to said sales
advertisement and at least one constraint requirement related to
said purchase advertisement, whether a piece of information
expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement is shown in
said seller's report and whether a piece of information expressing
the existence of said sales advertisement is shown in said buyer's
report.
20. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
allows the showing of the piece of information expressing the
existence of said purchase advertisement in said seller's report
and the showing of the piece of information expressing the
existence of said sales advertisement in said buyer's report only,
when no distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement
breaks any of the constraint requirements related to said purchase
advertisement.
21. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to form, on the basis of the constraint requirements
related to said purchase advertisement and the distinguishing
features related to said sales advertisement, a range quantity,
which quantitatively measures on a predefined scale the difference
of said distinguishing features from said constraint requirements,
and said comparing element is arranged to at least partly determine
on the basis of said range quantity, whether the piece of
information expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement
is shown in said seller's report and whether the piece of
information expressing the existence of said sales advertisement is
shown in said buyer's report.
22. A system according to claim 19, wherein said seller's report
developer is arranged to at least partly determine on the basis of
at least one parameter setting related to said purchase
advertisement, whether the piece of information expressing the
existence of said purchase advertisement is shown in said seller's
report.
23. A system according to claim 19, wherein said buyer's report
developer is arranged to at least partly determine on the basis of
at least one parameter setting related to said sales advertisement,
whether the piece of information expressing the existence of said
sales advertisement is shown in said buyer's report.
24. A system according to claim 19, wherein said seller's report
developer is arranged to determine on the basis of a parameter
setting related to said purchase advertisement, whether a
constraint requirement or other information related to said
purchase advertisement is shown in said seller's report.
25. A system according to claim 19, wherein said buyer's report
developer is arranged to determine on the basis of a parameter
setting related to said sales advertisement, whether a
distinguishing feature or other information related to the sales
advertisement is shown in said buyer's report.
26. A system according to claim 19, comprising a public
presentation controller, which is arranged to at least partly
determine on the basis of at least one parameter setting related to
said purchase advertisement, whether the piece of information
expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement is shown in
a form visible in public, and to at least partly determine on the
basis of at least one parameter setting related to said sales
advertisement, whether the piece of information expressing the
existence of said sales advertisement is shown in a form visible in
public.
27. A system according to claim 26, wherein said public
presentation controller is arranged to determine, on the basis of a
parameter setting related to the purchase advertisement, whether a
constraint requirement or other information related to said
purchase advertisement is shown in a form visible in public, and to
determine, on the basis of a parameter setting related to said
sales advertisement, whether a distinguishing feature or other
information related to said sales advertisement is shown in a form
visible in public.
28. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to determine, on the basis of a parameter setting
related to said sales advertisement, whether a certain
distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement is
conditional or unconditional.
29. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to placing
said sales advertisement, on the basis of the combined effect of at
least one distinguishing feature related to said sales
advertisement and at least one constraint requirement related to an
older purchase advertisement, whether a notification of change can
be sent to the potential buyer, who has placed said older purchase
advertisement.
30. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to placing
said purchase advertisement, on the basis of the combined effect of
at least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement and at least one distinguishing feature related to an
older sales advertisement, whether a notification of change can be
sent to the potential seller, who has placed said older sales
advertisement.
31. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to a change
in the distinguishing feature or other information related to said
sales advertisement, on the basis of the combined effect of at
least one distinguishing feature related to said sales
advertisement and at least one constraint requirement related to
said purchase advertisement, whether a notification of change can
be sent to the potential buyer, who has placed said purchase
advertisement.
32. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to changing
a constraint requirement or other information related to said
purchase advertisement, on the basis of the combined effect of at
least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement and at least one distinguishing feature related to
said sales advertisement, whether a notification of change can be
sent to the potential seller, who has placed said sales
advertisement.
33. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to removing
said purchase advertisement from the data base, on the basis of the
combined effect of at least one constraint requirement related to
said purchase advertisement and at least one distinguishing feature
related to said sales advertisement, whether a notification of
change can be sent to the potential seller, who has placed said
sales advertisement.
34. A system according to claim 19, wherein said comparing element
is arranged to at least partly determine, as a response to removing
said sales advertisement from the data base, on the basis of the
combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature related to
said sales advertisement and at least one constraint requirement
related to said purchase advertisement, whether a notification of
change can be sent to the potential buyer, who has placed said
purchase advertisement.
35. A system according to claim 29, comprising a change
notification developer for sending said notification of change as
an email message.
36. A system according to claim 29, comprising a change
notification developer for sending said notification of change to a
mobile phone as a text or multimedia message (SMS, MMS).
37. A computer program stored in a processor readable means for
providing a searching service operating in a data network on a real
estate market, the computer program comprising: a programmatic
means for producing a sales advertisement provided with one or more
distinguishing features of the object on sale in the advertisement
data base, a programmatic means for producing, in the advertisement
data base, a purchase advertisement provided with one or more
constraint requirements of the object being searched for, a
programmatic means for producing a seller's report corresponding to
said sales advertisement, a programmatic means for producing a
buyer's report corresponding to said purchase advertisement, and a
programmatic means for at least partly determining, on the basis of
the combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature related
to said sales advertisement and at least one constraint requirement
related to said purchase advertisement, whether the piece of
information expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement
is printed in said seller's report, and whether the piece of
information expressing the existence of said sales advertisement is
printed in said buyer's report.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for
providing an automated searching service on the real estate market
so that the automated searching service is offered to potential
buyers for searching for objects on sale and the automated
searching service is offered to potential sellers for searching for
the potential buyers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Conventional instruments for matching the potential buyers
and sellers on the real estate and housing market include newspaper
advertisements, advertisements published in a data network, such as
the Internet, or presentations organized by the person selling the
real estate or dwelling, or his or her agent. On the present real
estate and housing market, there are a lot of objects on sale at
the same time in growth centres, in particular. Because of the
large number of objects being offered by means of the newspaper
advertisements, in particular, there is a considerable risk that
the potential buyer fails to see an object on sale, which he or she
might be interested in, particularly. Furthermore, the amount of
information about the object on sale in the newspaper
advertisements is very small. Consequently, the potential buyer
looking for a suitable object by means of the newspaper
advertisements or generally surveying the market conditions must
pay a large number of visits to the presentations, which require
time and money. The present data network technology, such as the
Internet, can be used to improve the situation, for example, so
that the potential buyer looking for a suitable object or generally
surveying the market conditions can define constraint requirements,
such as the location area, the upper price limit, the surface area
of the building or the dwelling, etc., which the object on sale
should meet. Then, the potential buyer can perform a retrieval,
which only yields the sales advertisements of those objects on sale
placed in the data network, which meet the above-mentioned
constraint requirements. In the data network, it is possible to
show a considerably larger number of photographs and other
information about the object on sale than in the conventional
newspaper advertisements. In that case, the potential buyer can
reduce the number of objects in advance and, through this, reduce
the number of visits to the presentations, which require time and
money. It is also possible for the buyer to place in the data
network a purchase advertisement provided with the constraint
requirements he or she chooses.
[0003] Naturally, the potential buyer looking for a suitable object
or generally surveying the market conditions would achieve the most
informative results by paying a large number of visits to the
presentations. In that case, the potential buyer would see a large
number of objects in the best possible way and, at the same time,
maintain extensive and real-time knowledge of the market,
concerning the prevailing price level and any interesting objects
on sale. On the basis of the knowledge of the market obtained in
the presentations, the potential buyer can contact the quarters
selling the objects of interest or their agents for detailed
negotiations. The quarter selling the object or their agent could,
in turn, survey a large number of potential buyers to obtain a
real-time view of the potential buyers, who might be interested in
the particular object on sale. Through this, the quarter selling
the object, or their agent, can contact the potential buyers for
detailed negotiations. Thus, the activity is characterized in a
symmetrical aspect so that the potential buyers would maintain a
more or less formal data base of objects of interest and,
correspondingly, the quarters selling the objects would maintain a
more or less formal data base of the potential buyers. From the
viewpoint of the potential buyer, one advantage of the survey of
the market conditions based on the data network compared with the
visits to the presentations is its quickness and economic
efficiency, whereby the potential buyer is able to survey the
market conditions to a considerably larger extent than by merely
visiting the presentations. However, the methods and the systems
according to the known technology, based on the data network, do
not provide the symmetry as described above so that the potential
buyers could maintain a real-time view of the objects of interest
through the data network and, correspondingly, the potential
sellers could maintain a real-time view of the potential buyers
through the data network.
[0004] Publication US 2002/0082964 A1 describes a system, wherein
the potential seller may place a sales advertisement, which is
provided with distinguishing features, on the home page of the real
estate agent in the data network and, correspondingly, the
potential buyer can place a purchase advertisement provided with
the constraint requirements on the home page of the real estate
agent. The potential buyer can contact the potential seller
directly for further negotiations. However, to follow the changing
supply, the buyer must actively retrieve from the data network the
objects that are on sale at each time. In the method described in
publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,115, the activity is dissymmetrical
so that, in the method, the potential buyer is offered an
opportunity to compile a list of objects on sale he or she is
interested in, and the information of the potential buyer is
transferred to those potential sellers only, the sales objects of
whom the potential buyer has selected in the said list. In that
case, the information of the potential buyer, who might be
interested in a given object on sale but who has not noticed that
particular object on sale because of the large number of objects on
sale, for example, or for another reason, is not transmitted to the
quarter selling the said object.
[0005] The systems according to the known technology are
characterized in that the potential seller selling a given object
and, correspondingly, the potential buyer looking for a suitable
object must often show considerable activity and diligence to
improve their knowledge of the market. For private persons, in
particular, the real estate or dwelling transaction is such a major
one that one or both parties are often insecure about their
adequacy of the knowledge of the market in relation to the
subjective significance of the transaction in progress.
Consequently, there is a considerable demand for methods and
systems, which can be used to offer the potential buyers and the
potential sellers easier ways of improving their knowledge of the
market.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The purpose of the invention is to provide a new method for
offering an automated searching service on the real estate market,
based on the data network, so that the potential buyers are offered
the automated searching service to search for the objects on sale,
and the potential sellers are offered the automated searching
service to search for prospective buyers. Another object of the
invention comprises a system for offering the automated searching
service based on the data network on the real estate market. A
further object of the invention is a computer program for offering
the automated searching service based on the data network on the
real estate market.
[0007] In the method according to the invention, a situation is
provided by means of the data network, wherein the potential buyers
are looking for suitable objects and/or generally merely surveying
the market conditions, and the potential sellers are looking for
the potential buyers and/or just generally surveying the market
conditions. In the activities implemented through the data network,
the actors are not physical persons but the sales advertisements
and the purchase advertisements placed by them in the data network.
A corresponding activity between physical persons comes into being,
for example, when a large number of potential buyers visit a great
number of presentations, where the potential buyers meet the
potential sellers and/or their agents. In the activity over the
data network, the potential buyer is represented by a purchase
advertisement provided with certain constraint requirements, stored
in a data base, and the potential seller is represented by a sales
advertisement provided with the distinguishing features of the
object on sale, stored in the data base. From the points of view of
the potential buyer and the potential seller, the activity is
symmetrical in that the potential seller is offered an opportunity
to receive a report, when they so desire, presenting the purchase
advertisements selected on the basis of the predefined requirements
and, correspondingly, the potential buyer is offered an opportunity
to receive a report, when they so desire, presenting the sales
advertisements selected on the basis of the predefined
requirements.
[0008] It should be noted that one potential buyer can file several
purchase advertisements provided with various constraint
requirements. Correspondingly, several sales advertisements can be
filed for one object on sale, which may differ from one another
with respect to one or more distinguishing features, such as the
asking price and/or the schedule of vacancy.
[0009] The distinguishing feature of the object on sale in this
document may refer to both a property of the object, such as the
net floor area, and any information, such as the asking price,
attached to the object by the potential seller. Correspondingly,
the constraint requirement may refer to both a property of the
object to be searched for and any information, such as the highest
price acceptable, attached to the object by the potential
buyer.
[0010] A method according to the invention for providing a
searching service operating in a data network on a real estate
market is characterised in that the method comprises:
[0011] as a response to placing a sales advertisement provided with
one or more distinguishing features of an object on sale, said
sales advertisement is stored in a data base,
[0012] as a response to placing a purchase advertisement provided
with one or more constraint requirements of an object being
searched for, said purchase advertisement is stored in the data
base,
[0013] on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement and at
least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement, it is at least partly determined whether a piece of
information expressing the existence of said purchase advertisement
is presented as a response to a reporting request related to said
sales advertisement, and
[0014] on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement and at
least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement, it is at least partly determined whether a piece of
information expressing the existence of said sales advertisement is
presented as a response to a reporting request related to said
purchase advertisement.
[0015] A system according to the invention for providing a
searching service operating in a data network on a real estate
market is characterized in that the system comprises:
[0016] an advertisement data base,
[0017] a sales advertisement developer for producing a sales
advertisement provided with one or more distinguishing features of
the object on sale in said advertisement data base,
[0018] a purchase advertisement developer for producing a purchase
advertisement provided with one or more constraint requirements of
the object being searched for in said advertisement data base,
[0019] a seller's report developer for producing a sales report
corresponding to said sales advertisement,
[0020] a buyer's report developer for producing a buyer's report
corresponding to said purchase advertisement, and
[0021] a comparing element, which is arranged to at least partly
determine on the basis of the combined effect of at least one
distinguishing feature related to said sales advertisement and at
least one constraint requirement related to said purchase
advertisement, whether the piece of information expressing the
existence of said purchase advertisement is shown in said seller's
report and whether the piece of information expressing the
existence of said sales advertisement is shown in said buyer's
report.
[0022] A computer program according to the invention stored in a
processor readable means for providing a searching service
operating in a data network on a real estate market is
characterized in that the computer program comprises:
[0023] a programmatic means for producing a sales advertisement
provided with one or more distinguishing features of the object on
sale in the advertisement data base,
[0024] a programmatic means for producing, in the advertisement
data base, a purchase advertisement provided with one or more
constraint requirements of the object being searched for,
[0025] a programmatic means for producing a seller's report
corresponding to said sales advertisement,
[0026] a programmatic means for producing a buyer's report
corresponding to said purchase advertisement, and
[0027] a programmatic means for at least partly determining, on the
basis of the combined effect of at least one distinguishing feature
related to said sales advertisement and at least one constraint
requirement related to said purchase advertisement, whether the
piece of information expressing the existence of said purchase
advertisement is printed in said seller's report, and whether the
piece of information expressing the existence of said sales
advertisement is printed in said buyer's report.
[0028] The various embodiments of the invention are characterized
in that which is presented in the dependent claims.
[0029] The invention provides considerable advantages:
[0030] the method and the system according to the invention offer
the potential seller a comfortable way to survey the interest of
potential buyers towards the object on sale and, through that, to
determine the market value of the object and/or improve their
knowledge of the market without having to arrange presentations at
the initial stage and/or actively follow the purchase
advertisements in newspapers, data networks or other media, and the
sales advertisements of other objects,
[0031] the method and the system according to the invention offer
the potential buyer a comfortable way to look for a suitable object
and/or survey the market conditions without having to actively
follow the sales advertisements in newspapers, data networks or
other media, and the purchase advertisements placed by other
potential buyers.
[0032] The exemplary embodiments of the invention presented in this
document are not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the
applicability of the appended claims. The verb "to comprise" is
used in this document as an open limitation that does not exclude
the existence of also unrecited features. The features recited in
depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise
explicitly stated.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] In the following, the invention is described in detail with
reference to the preferred embodiments shown as examples, and the
appended drawings, in which:
[0034] FIG. 1 shows a state machine diagram of the method according
to one embodiment of the invention for offering the automated
searching serviced based on the data network on the real estate
market;
[0035] FIG. 2 shows the principle of the sales advertisement used
in the method according to one embodiment of the invention;
[0036] FIG. 3 shows the principle of the purchase advertisement
used in the method according to one embodiment of the
invention;
[0037] FIG. 4 shows the system according to an embodiment of the
invention for offering the automated searching service based on the
data network on the real estate market;
[0038] FIG. 5 shows the hardware that can be used to implement the
system according to an embodiment of the invention for offering the
automated searching service based on the data network on the real
estate market.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0039] FIG. 1 shows a state machine diagram of the method according
to an embodiment of the invention for offering the automated
searching service based on the data network on the real estate
market. State 101 is a wait state and the states 102 to 107 are
operating states. One goes to the wait state from the operating
states and the system remains in the wait state until an impulse
comes, routing the system to one of the operating states 102 to
107. The impulses include placing a new sales advertisement into
the system, placing a new purchase advertisement into the system, a
processing procedure of an existing sales advertisement, a
processing procedure of an existing purchase advertisement, a
request to show a seller's report, and a request to show a buyer's
report. After entering the operating state 102 to 107, the
functions associated with the said operating state are performed,
after which the system automatically returns to the wait state
101.
[0040] One enters the operating state 102, when the potential
seller places a new sales advertisement into the system. The sales
advertisements are processed as logical objects so that each sales
advertisement has an identifying data item, by means of which it
can be distinguished from the other sales advertisements. The
identifying data item can be, for example, an identification
number, which a device, such as a server computer in the data
network forms when receiving the new sales advertisement. Another
alternative is that the potential seller forms the identifying data
item. In that case, the device receiving the sales advertisement
checks that the suggested identifying data item is not the same as
that of a sales advertisement placed earlier. When needed, the
receiving device asks the potential seller to form a new suggestion
for the identifying data item. The sales advertisement in question,
comprising the said identifying data item, the distinguishing
features of the object on sale, and any other information
associated with the sales advertisement in question, is stored in
the data base of the system.
[0041] One enters the operating state 107, when the potential buyer
places a new purchase advertisement into the system. The purchase
advertisements are processed as logical objects so that each
purchase advertisement has an identifying data item, by means of
which it can be distinguished from the other purchase
advertisements and which can be formed by a similar procedure as
the identifying data item of the sales advertisement. The purchase
advertisement in question, comprising the said identifying data
item, the constraint requirements, and any other information
associated with the said purchase advertisement, is stored in the
data base of the system.
[0042] One enters the operating state 103, when the potential
seller starts the procedures related to the sales advertisement
they have placed earlier. The system can identify the potential
seller, for example, by means of a conventional user identifier
password identification, whereby outsiders can be prevented from
accessing the sales advertisement placed by a certain potential
seller. Processing the sales advertisement can refer to removing
the said sales advertisement from the system, for example, or
changing one or more distinguishing features of the sales
advertisement or other information related to the sales
advertisement.
[0043] One enters the operating state 106, when the potential buyer
starts the procedures related to the purchase advertisement they
have placed earlier. The potential buyer can also be identified by
the user identifier password identification. Processing the
purchase advertisement may refer to removing the said purchase
advertisement from the system, for example, or changing or removing
one or more constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement
or other information related to the purchase advertisement.
[0044] One enters the operating state 104, when the potential
seller, who has placed the sales advertisement, produces a request
to show the sales report related to the said sales advertisement.
As a response to the request to show the sales report, the purchase
advertisements are selected from among all the purchase
advertisements, which satisfy the selection conditions valid at the
time of requesting to show the sales report. The said selection
conditions consist of the following factors: 1) the distinguishing
features of the sales advertisement under examination should meet
the constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement in line
according to a predefined minimum standard, 2) presenting the
purchase advertisement in the seller's reports is not prohibited on
the basis of the information in the purchase advertisement, and 3)
presenting the purchase advertisement is not prohibited by the
reporting settings valid during the request to show the seller's
report. For example, the said predetermined minimum standard can be
a demand that no distinguishing feature of the sales advertisement
break any constraint requirements presented in the purchase
advertisement. A real time seller's report is formed on the basis
of the constraint requirements of the selected purchase
advertisements and other information, such as the contact
information of the potential buyer. The seller's report shows the
constraint requirements of each purchase advertisement and any
other information, which in the said purchase offer are allowed to
be shown to the potential sellers in connection with the seller's
reports. A minimum amount of information about the selected
purchase advertisement, which can be motioned to be shown, is the
information that indicates the existence of the said purchase
advertisement. The reporting settings are used to offer the
potential seller an opportunity to place a prohibition to display
the purchase advertisement shown in the seller's report, preventing
the display of the said purchase advertisement in the following
seller's reports. This function enables the potential seller to
prevent the growth of the seller's report in process of time from
placing the sales advertisement. By means of the report settings,
the potential seller is also offered an opportunity to
predetermine, what kind of information is shown in the seller's
report. For example, the potential seller may only want the contact
information of the potential buyers in their seller's report, or
the potential seller may want to include in their seller's report
only the purchase advertisements that have no absolute price
limits, which the potential buyer is not willing to exceed.
Furthermore, the potential seller may want in their seller's report
only the purchase advertisements, which are younger than the age
limit set by the potential seller.
[0045] One enters the operating state 105, when the potential
buyer, who has placed a purchase advertisement, produces a request
to show the buyer's report associated with the said purchase
advertisement. As a response to the request to show the buyer's
report, those sales advertisements are selected from among all the
sales advertisements, which satisfy the conditions of selection
valid at the time of requesting to show the buyer's report. The
said selection conditions consist of the following parts: 1) the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement in line should
meet the constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement
under examination according to a predefined minimum standard, 2)
presenting the sales advertisement in the buyer's reports is not
prohibited on the basis of the information in the sales
advertisement, and 3) presenting the sales advertisement is not
prohibited by the reporting settings valid during the request to
show the buyer's report. The said predetermined minimum standard
can be, for example, a demand that no distinguishing feature of the
sales advertisement break any of the constraint requirements
presented in the purchase advertisement. A real time buyer's report
is formed on the basis of the distinguishing features of the
selected sales advertisements and other information, such as the
contact information of the potential seller. The buyer's report
presents the distinguishing features of each sales advertisement
and other information, which in the said sales advertisement are
allowed to be presented to the potential buyers in connection with
the buyer's reports. The minimum amount of information about the
selected sales advertisement, which can be motioned to be
presented, is the information indicating the existence of the sales
advertisement in question. By means of the reporting settings, the
potential buyer is offered an opportunity to place a prohibition to
present the sales advertisement presented in the buyer's report,
preventing the showing of the said sales advertisement in the
following buyer's reports. This function makes it possible for the
potential buyer to prevent the growth of the buyer's report after a
lapse of time from placing the purchase advertisement. By means of
the report settings, the potential buyer is also offered an
opportunity to predefine the kind of information that is presented
in the buyer's report. For example, the potential buyer may want in
their buyer's report only the contact information of the potential
sellers, or the potential buyer may want in their buyer's report
only those sales advertisements that do not define an absolute
price limit, under which the potential seller is not willing to
assign the object under examination. Furthermore, the potential
buyer may want in their buyer's report only those sales
advertisements, which are younger than the age limit placed by the
potential buyer.
[0046] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
a notification of change is transferred through the data network to
the possible buyer who has placed a purchase advertisement, when a
new sales advertisement is placed in the data base, which satisfies
the selection conditions that would be used to select the sales
advertisements, if the potential buyer, who had placed the purchase
advertisement in question, produced a request to show the buyer's
report. The notification of change in question can be in the form
of a buyer's report, for example, corresponding to the changed
situation. The notification of change in question can also be a
standard message, after receiving which the potential buyer knows
that the situation has changed and, to find out about the new
situation, can produce a request to show the buyer's report.
Correspondingly, a notification of change is transferred through
the data network to the potential seller who has placed a sales
advertisement, when a new purchase advertisement is placed in the
data base, which satisfies the selection conditions that would be
used to select the purchase advertisements, if the potential
seller, who had placed the said sales advertisement, produced a
request to show the seller's report. The notification of change in
question can be in the form of a seller's report, for example,
corresponding to the changed situation. The notification of change
can also be a standard message, after receiving which the potential
seller knows that the situation has changed and, to find out about
the new situation, can produce a request to show the seller's
report.
[0047] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
a notification of change is transferred through the data network to
the potential buyer who has placed a purchase advertisement, when a
sales advertisement is removed from the data base, which satisfied
the selection conditions associated with the said purchase
advertisement. Correspondingly, a notification of change is
transferred through the data network to the potential seller who
has placed a sales advertisement, when the purchase advertisement
is removed from the data base, which satisfied the selection
conditions associated with the said sales advertisement. The
notification of change can be a buyer's or a seller's report or a
standard message, corresponding to the changed situation.
[0048] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
a notification of change is sent trough the data network to the
potential buyer who has placed a purchase advertisement, when the
distinguishing features or other information of the sales
advertisement stored in the data base are changed so that the
changed sales advertisement satisfies the selection conditions
associated with the said purchase advertisement. Correspondingly, a
notification of change is sent through the data network to the
potential seller who has placed a sales advertisement, when the
distinguishing features or other information of the purchase
advertisement stored in the data base are changed so that the
changed purchase advertisement satisfies the selection conditions
associated with the said sales advertisement.
[0049] The above-mentioned notifications of change, indicating a
change in the situation, can be sent as e-mail messages by means of
a mail server connected to the data network. Because of their
shortness, the standard notifications of change can also be sent as
text or multimedia messages (SMS, MMS) to the mobile phones of the
potential sellers and the potential buyers.
[0050] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
the server computer maintaining the automated searching service
sends to the potential seller, who has placed the sales
advertisement, a seller's report through the e-mail, when a certain
predefined time has elapsed from forming the previous seller's
report. Correspondingly, the server computer sends to the potential
buyer, who has placed the purchase advertisement, a buyer's report
through the e-mail, when a certain predefined time has elapsed from
forming the previous buyer's report.
[0051] The method according to one embodiment of the invention
supports public, limited and invisible sales advertisements and
public, limited and invisible purchase advertisements. For example,
a public sales advertisement is presented in public over the data
network on the home page of the quarter maintaining real estate
services so that anybody, who has the right to access the home page
in question, can look at the said sales advertisement, when they so
choose. The distinguishing features and other information of the
public sales advertisement are fully or partly presented in public.
In this document, being visible in public means that an outside
person, who has not themselves placed any purchase or sales
advertisements and is not part of the personnel responsible for the
functioning of the service, can see the purchase or sales
advertisement under examination, when they so desire. For example,
the number of outsiders can be limited so that viewing the purchase
and sales advertisements that are visible in public is allowed for
a fee and/or registration only.
[0052] A limited sales advertisement is not shown in public, but
its existence is disclosed to those possible buyers only, in whose
buyer's reports the sales advertisement in question has been
selected. The distinguishing features and other information of the
limited sales advertisement are shown fully or partly in the said
buyer's reports only.
[0053] An invisible sales advertisement is not shown in public and
its existence is not disclosed to the potential buyers. The
invisible sales advertisement is a data logging device, which can
be used by the potential seller to provide preliminary information
about the demand for an object on sale without the potential
buyers, other potential sellers or outsiders being aware of it. The
seller's reports corresponding to the invisible sales advertisement
are formed in the same way as the seller's reports corresponding to
the corresponding public or limited sales advertisement.
[0054] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
a sales advertisement, which can be public, limited or invisible,
is implemented, for example, so that a distinguishing
feature-specific or information-specific parameter is connected to
each distinguishing feature and other information of the sales
advertisement, the potential seller placing the said sales
advertisement being able to select, by means of the parameter,
between the following alternatives, for example:
[0055] the distinguishing feature or other information in question
is allowed to be shown both in public and in the buyer's
reports,
[0056] the distinguishing feature or other information in question
is allowed to be shown in the buyer's reports only,
[0057] the distinguishing feature or other information in question
is not allowed to be shown in public or in the buyer's reports,
whereby the distinguishing feature is used only when comparing the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement with the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement,
[0058] the sales advertisement is fully or partly shown in
public,
[0059] the existence of the sales advertisement is not allowed to
be shown in public, i.e., the sales advertisement is limited, if a
parameter associated with the sales advertisement, expressing the
manner of representation, is placed in a state that does not allow
the presentation of the sales advertisement in public, but in the
seller's reports only,
[0060] the existence of the sales advertisement is not allowed to
be shown in public or in the buyer's reports, i.e., the sales
advertisement is invisible, if a parameter associated with the
sales advertisement, expressing the manner of representation, is
placed in a state that does not allow the presentation of the sales
advertisement in public or in the buyer's reports.
[0061] In the method according to an embodiment of the invention, a
purchase advertisement, which can be public, limited or invisible,
is implemented, for example, so that a constraint
requirement-specific or information-specific parameter is connected
to each constraint requirement and other information of the
purchase advertisement, by means of which the potential buyer
placing the said purchase advertisement can select between the
following alternatives, for example:
[0062] the constraint requirement or other information in question
is allowed to be shown both in public and in the seller's
reports,
[0063] the constraint requirement or other information in question
is allowed to be shown in the seller's reports only,
[0064] the constraint requirement or other information in question
is not allowed to be shown in public or in the seller's reports,
whereby the constraint requirement is only used when comparing the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement with the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement,
[0065] the purchase advertisement is fully or partly shown in
public,
[0066] the existence of the purchase advertisement is not allowed
to be shown in public, i.e., the purchase advertisement is limited,
if a parameter associated with the purchase advertisement,
expressing the manner of representation, is placed in a state,
which does not allow the purchase advertisement to be shown in
public but in the seller's reports only,
[0067] the existence of the purchase advertisement is not allowed
to be shown in public or in the seller's reports, if a parameter
associated with the purchase advertisement, expressing the manner
of representation, is placed in a state that does not allow the
purchase advertisement to be shown in public or in the seller's
reports.
[0068] The invisible purchase advertisement is a data logging
device, by means of which the potential buyer can gain preliminary
information about the objects on sale without the potential sellers
of outsiders being aware of it. The buyer's reports corresponding
to the invisible purchase advertisements are formed in the same way
as the buyer's reports corresponding to the corresponding public or
limited purchase advertisement.
[0069] The method according to the embodiment of the invention
under examination provides an opportunity to place anonymous sales
and purchase advertisements, wherein the contact information of the
potential seller or buyer is not presented in public or in the
buyer's or seller's reports. In this document, the anonymous sales
and purchase advertisements are referred to as silent sales and
purchase advertisements.
[0070] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
the distinguishing feature of a sales advertisement can be
determined conditional so that the said distinguishing feature is
disregarded and not shown in the buyer's report, if the
distinguishing feature in question would cause the sales
advertisement not to be selected in the buyer's report
corresponding to the purchase advertisement in question. As an
example, the sales advertisement has a distinguishing feature
defined therein, namely an asking price AP, which is higher than
the highest admissible price HAP that is defined as a constraint
requirement in the purchase offer. Consequently, as AP>HAP, the
sales advertisement under examination does not satisfy the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement under
examination. If the distinguishing feature AP is defined
conditional, it is disregarded in the examination and not shown in
the buyer's report. Instead of the asking price, for example, "on
the basis of offers", "price negotiable" or the like can be shown
in the buyer's report. In a situation according to the example
described above, the conditional distinguishing feature AP provides
the advantage that the potential buyer, the highest admitted price
HAP defined by whom is lower than the asking price AP, may become
interested in the object in question on the basis of its other
distinguishing features. In later negotiations, the potential buyer
and the potential seller may even reach a solution to the price
problem, satisfying both parties. On the other hand, another
possible buyer, the highest admissible price HAP defined by whom is
higher than the asking price AP, most likely considers the fact
that the asking price does not exceed the highest admissible price
set by them a fact that favours the selection of the object on
sale. Consequently, presenting the asking price to such a potential
buyer may be profitable to the potential seller. In future, the
distinguishing feature of a sales advertisement, which herein is
defined conditional, is called a conditional distinguishing feature
and a distinguishing feature, which is not conditional, is called
an unconditional distinguishing feature.
[0071] The principle of the sales advertisement used in the method
according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2,
and the principle of the purchase advertisement is shown in FIG. 3.
The information in the parenthesis comprises examples, which are
shown in the figure only to illustrate the principle. The line in
the parenthesis (-) means that the information in that location has
no meaning. The potential seller placing the sales advertisement
can select 1 . . . N (N being an integer) different types of
distinguishing feature parameters, by means of which they define
the distinguishing features of the object on sale, the sales
advertisement being compared with the purchase advertisements on
the basis of these parameters. Furthermore, the potential seller
can select 1 . . . M (M being an integer) different types of
footnote parameters, by means of which they define the other
information related to the sales advertisement, such as the contact
information of the potential seller and whether the sales
advertisement is public, limited or invisible. The distinguishing
feature or footnote parameters have types indicating the kind of
distinguishing feature or other information associated with the
sales advertisement the distinguishing feature or footnote
parameter under examination represents. The value of the
distinguishing feature or footnote parameter indicates the numeric
or nonnumeric value of the distinguishing feature or footnote
parameter under examination. The types of the distinguishing
feature parameters include, for example, the net floor area, the
heating method, the year of construction, the dishwashing machine
etc. of the object on sale. The values associated with the types in
question include "100 m.sup.2", "direct electric power", "1989",
"none". The types of the footnote parameters include, for example,
a link to additional information in text format, the e-mail address
of the seller, etc. The values related to the types in question
include, for example, www.esim.com/tiedot
(www.example.com/information), myyja.esimerkki@operaattori.fi
(seller.example@operator.fi).
[0072] The potential buyer placing a purchase advertisement can
select 1 . . . K (K being an integer) different types of constraint
parameters, by means of which the constraint requirements for the
object being searched for are defined, the purchase advertisement
being compared with the sales advertisements on the basis of the
constraint requirements. Furthermore, the potential buyer can
select 1 . . . L (L being an integer) different types of footnote
parameters, by means of which they define the information related
to the purchase advertisement, such as the contact information of
the potential buyer and whether the purchase advertisement is
public, limited or invisible. The constraint or footnote parameters
have types indicating the kind of constraint requirements or
information related to the purchase advertisement the constraint
and footnote parameter under examination represents. The value of
the constraint parameter can be a certain eligible feature; for
example a desired type of building. The value of the constraint
parameter can also comprise a group of alternatives, to which the
information about the order of superiority can be attached; for
example, the desired type of building is primarily a terraced house
but also a single-family house can be considered. Furthermore, the
constraint parameter can be a closed or open range; for example,
the acceptable net floor area is 150 . . . 350 square meters or 150
. . . "no limitations" square meters.
[0073] Table 201 in FIG. 2 shows examples of the distinguishing
feature parameters T1-T6 of the sales advertisement, Table 202
shows examples of the footnote parameters L1-L4 of the sales
advertisement, and Table 203 shows an example of an alternative
piece of information V1 included in the purchase report, which is
shown in the buyer's report instead of the value of the conditional
distinguishing feature T6, if T6 does not meet the corresponding
constraint requirement(s) of the purchase advertisement. The sales
advertisement according to the example is public, which is
determined by the footnote parameter L1. The telephone number L2 of
the potential seller is not shown in public but in the buyer's
report only. Furthermore, the footnote parameters contain the web
addresses L3 and L4, which in this example are shown both in public
and in the buyer's reports, and which contain pictures and written
additional information about the object on sale. For example, the
written additional information can contain a report on the method
of building and/or assessments and comments of the present of
previous inhabitants of the building, concerning the house and the
environment. The written additional information and/or the pictures
can either fully or partly be ready in the data base of the real
estate agent or the other quarter maintaining the service, whereby
the potential seller does not need to produce this material
themselves. For example, photographs taken from outside the
building can be ready. In that case, when placing the sales
advertisement, the potential seller can include a link to the
pictures that are already there, and add to the location indicated
by this link the photographs they have taken from inside the flat
that is on sale, which most likely are not yet in the data
base.
[0074] Table 301 in FIG. 3 shows examples of the constraint
parameters R1-R6 of the purchase advertisement, Table 302 shows
examples of the footnote parameters L1-L3 of the purchase
advertisement. The constraint parameters R1 and R2 determine the
city and the city sector, where the potential buyer is looking for
a suitable object. The constraint parameter R3 defines that the
potential buyer is primarily looking for an object in a multi-story
building and secondarily one in a terrace house. The constraint
parameter R4 defines that the net floor area should be at least 150
square meters. The constraint parameter R5 defines that the most
suitable arrangement of rooms be 6 rooms+kitchen+bathroom, the
second suitable one is 5 rooms+kitchen+bathroom, and the third
suitable one is 7 rooms+kitchen+bathroom. The constraint parameter
R7 defines that the price should not exceed 160 000 euros. Except
for the highest allowable price (160 000 euros), the
above-mentioned information is thus allowed to be shown both in
public and in the seller's reports. Thus, the said information of
the price limit is used only when comparing the purchase
advertisement in question with the sales advertisements. The
purchase advertisement according to the example is limited, which
is defined by means of the footnote parameter L1. The footnote
parameters L2 and L3 represent the telephone number of the
potential buyer and a link to the written and/or visual material,
where the potential buyer may freely describe their wishes
concerning the object they are searching for.
[0075] The question related to the pair formed by the sales
advertisement and the purchase advertisement: "Do the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement under
examination meet the constraint requirements of the purchase
advertisement under examination according to a predefined minimum
standard?" could be answered by means of the situational
information related to the pair and the requirement for
suitability. The situational information expresses, on a predefined
scale, to what extent the distinguishing features of the sales
advertisement under examination satisfy the constraint requirements
of the purchase advertisement under examination, and the
requirement for suitability describes, how well the distinguishing
features of the sales advertisement should meet the constraint
requirements of the purchase advertisement for the sales
advertisement under examination to be selected in the buyer's
report corresponding to the purchase advertisement under
examination and, correspondingly, for the purchase advertisement
under examination to be selected in the seller's report
corresponding to the sales advertisement under examination.
[0076] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
the situational information is a binary piece of information, which
indicates only, whether any unconditional distinguishing feature of
the sales advertisement under examination breaks the constraint
requirements of the purchase advertisement under examination. The
suitability requirement in this embodiment is that no unconditional
distinguishing feature of the sales advertisement under examination
breaks any of the constraint requirements of the purchase
advertisement under examination. For example, the distinguishing
features of the sales advertisement shown in FIG. 2 satisfy the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement shown in FIG.
3, if both refer to the same city (example polis=example city) and
if the street mentioned in the sales advertisement (Example Street)
is located in the right city sector (Example_city_sector). As the
asking price information in the buyer's report, the text "on the
basis of offers" defined in Table 203 in FIG. 2 is presented,
because the asking price (205 000 euros) of the sales advertisement
is a conditional distinguishing feature and its value is higher
than the highest allowable price of the purchase advertisement (160
000 euros). If the asking price of the sales advertisement were an
unconditional distinguishing feature, the suitability requirement
for the sales advertisement under examination would not be
satisfied, and the said purchase and sales advertisements would not
be shown in the corresponding buyer's and sellers reports.
[0077] In the method according to an alternative embodiment of the
invention, the situational information (is) a range quantity which,
on a predefined scale, quantitatively measures the difference of
the distinguishing features of the sales advertisement from the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement. The
potential buyer placing the purchase advertisement can set the
constraint requirements that describe the desired values of the
features of the object being searched for. Any deviations of the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement from these
desired values increase the range quantity, the value of which
describes how well or how poorly the distinguishing features of the
sales advertisement under examination meet the constraint
requirements of the purchase advertisement under examination. In
the method according to the embodiment, the potential buyer can be
offered an opportunity to define the behaviour of the range
quantity for each constraint requirement parameter, for which a
desired value has been defined. For a numeric distinguishing
feature, such as the net floor area or a geographical distance in a
certain direction from the desired location, the behaviour of the
range quantity can be defined, for example, by means of the growth
factor of the range quantity so that .DELTA.e=k1 x the deviation,
when the deviation is positive, and .DELTA.e=k2 x-deviation, when
the deviation is negative, wherein .DELTA.e is an increase in the
range quantity caused by the deviation, and k1 and k2 are the
growth factors corresponding to the different directions of the
deviation. For the acceptable alternatives of a nonnumeric
distinguishing feature, the rates of growth of the range quantity
related to the different alternatives can be defined. For example,
if the most wanted type of building is a single-family house, the
second most wanted one is a terrace house, and the third most
wanted one is a multi-story building, a definition can be made that
the single-family house does not increase the range quantity, the
terrace house increases the range quantity by an amount of
.DELTA.e1, and the multi-story building increases the range
quantity by an amount of .DELTA.e1+.DELTA.e2. Furthermore, there
can be cross dependencies between the different constraint
requirements, for example, so that the behaviour of the range
quantity in relation to a certain constraint requirement depends on
the situation of one or more other constraint requirements. As an
example, there is a case, where the potential buyer is primarily
looking for a single-family house and has defined that with the
price increasing, the range quantity increases by a factor k1 (k1
range units/euro), if the object of the sales advertisement is a
single-family house, by a factor k2, if the object of the sales
advertisement is a terrace house, and by a factor k3, if the object
of the sales advertisement is a multi-story building. One way of
offering the potential buyer an opportunity to define free
dependencies is to offer him or her a programming interface for
compiling a program containing simple control structures, such as
IF--THEN--ELSE structures or state machine structures as part of
their purchase advertisement. However, there is the disadvantage
that, most likely, only a few of the potential buyers would be
willing to study how to compile such programs. By means of the
above-mentioned mechanisms, the potential buyer placing the
purchase advertisement can define the values of the different
constraint requirements with respect to one another.
[0078] By means of the range quantities, the sales advertisements
can be arranged in the order of superiority from the point of view
of a certain purchase advertisement. Correspondingly, the purchase
advertisements can be arranged in the order of superiority from the
point of view of a certain sales advertisement. Other opportunities
for forming the order of superiority include the methods based on
fuzzy logic, for example. In this embodiment, the suitability
requirement can be defined by the potential buyer or seller by
means of the settings of the buyer's or seller's reports. In the
buyer's or seller's reports, the reporting settings can be used to
define that the sales and purchase advertisements belonging to the
best of certain relative portions, for example, the best 10% or a
certain predefined number of best suitable sales or purchase
advertisements are presented.
[0079] In the method according to one embodiment of the invention,
the situational information related to a new sales advertisement is
formed as a response to placing the sales advertisement in
question. Correspondingly, the situational information related to a
new purchase advertisement is formed as a response to placing the
purchase advertisement in question. If the distinguishing features
of an existing sales advertisement or the constraint requirements
of an existing purchase advertisement are changed, all the
situational information related to the changed sales advertisement
or purchase advertisement is updated. The suitability requirements
can be partly or fully specified for the sales or purchase
advertisements. As described above, the formation methods of the
situational information can also be partly or fully sales and
purchase advertisement-specific. The sales and purchase
advertisement-specific suitability requirements can be defined by
means of the report settings of the sales and purchase reports.
[0080] The selection of the purchase advertisements, carried out
after a request to show the seller's report, is simplified and
quickened, as the ready-made situational information can be used to
clarify, whether the distinguishing features of the sales
advertisement under examination meet the constraint requirements or
the purchase advertisement in line in accordance with the
suitability requirements. Correspondingly, the selection of the
sales advertisements, carried out after a request to show the
buyer's report is simplified, as the ready-made situational
information can be used to clarify, whether the distinguishing
features of the sales advertisement in line meet the constraint
requirements of the purchase advertisement under examination in
accordance with the suitability requirements. One disadvantage in
this method is that storage space is needed for storing the
situational information.
[0081] For example, storing the situational information can be
carried out so that a list of purchase advertisements is attached
to each sales advertisement, and to each item of the list,
information is attached, indicating the extent, to which the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement in question meet
the constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement in
question. Correspondingly, a list of sales advertisements is
attached to each purchase advertisement, and to each item of the
list, information is attached, indicating the extent to which the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement in question meet
the constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement in
question. To save storage space, the lists attached to the sales
advertisements can only include those purchase advertisements, the
constraint requirements of which are met according to a predefined
common minimum criterion. A similar procedure can also be carried
out for the lists related to the purchase advertisements. Another
possibility is to deal with the situational information related to
the pairs formed by the sales and purchase advertisements as
individualized objects so that each pair-specific piece of
situational information is associated with the information about
the sales advertisement and the purchase advertisement, between
which the situational information in question is located; for
example, situational information A is related to a sales
advertisement X and a purchase advertisement Y.
[0082] FIG. 4 shows the system according to one embodiment of the
invention for offering the automated searching service based on the
data network on the real estate market. An advertisement data base
404 contains the sales and purchase advertisements placed into the
system. Using a sales advertisement developer 405, the potential
seller can produce a new sales advertisement in the said
advertisement data base 404. Using a purchase advertisement
developer 401, the potential buyer can produce a new purchase
advertisement in the said advertisement data base 404. A seller's
report developer 410 produces a sellers report 411 corresponding to
the sales advertisement as a response to the reporting request
produced by the potential seller. A buyer's report developer 408
produces a buyer's report 409 corresponding to the purchase
advertisement as a response to the reporting request produced by
the potential buyer. A comparing element 407 is arranged to define,
whether the distinguishing features of a certain sales
advertisement meet the constraint requirements of a certain
purchase advertisement to the extent that the sales advertisement
in question can be selected to be shown in the buyer's report 409
corresponding to the purchase advertisement in question, and/or
that the purchase advertisement in question can be selected to be
shown in the seller's report 411 corresponding to the sales
advertisement in question.
[0083] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the sales advertisement developer 405 offers an interface 421,
through which the potential seller can feed to a brochure data base
403 visual and written introductory information about the object on
sale and its environment, and place in the sales advertisement a
link pointing to the said introductory information. Furthermore,
through the interface 421, the potential seller can search from the
brochure data base the introductory information, which describes
the object on sale or its environment and has been placed earlier,
and the link pointing to this information can be placed in the
sales advertisement. Through the interface 421, for example, the
potential seller can further browse through the information about
the price level etc. related to the realized deals in the area
under examination.
[0084] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the said comparing element 407 allows the selection of a purchase
advertisement in the seller's report 411 and, correspondingly, the
selection of a sales advertisement in the buyer's report 409 only,
when no distinguishing feature related to the said sales
advertisement breaks any of the constraint requirements related to
the said purchase advertisement.
[0085] In the system according to an alternative embodiment of the
invention, the said comparing element 407 is arranged, on the basis
of the constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement and
the distinguishing features of the sales advertisement, to form a
range quantity, which quantitatively measures on a predefined scale
the difference of the said distinguishing features from the said
constraint requirements, and the said comparing element 407 is
arranged, on the basis of the said range quantity, to at least
partly define, whether the selection of the said purchase
advertisement in the seller's report 411 is allowed, and whether
the selection of the said sales advertisement in the buyer's report
409 is allowed.
[0086] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the seller's report developer 410 is arranged to at least partly
define on the basis of one or more parameter settings related to
the purchase advertisement, whether the said purchase advertisement
is selected in the seller's report 411. Correspondingly, the
buyer's report developer 408 is arranged to at least partly define
on the basis of one or more parameter settings related to the sales
advertisement, whether the said sales advertisement is selected in
the buyer's report 409.
[0087] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the seller's report developer 410 is arranged to define, on the
basis of a parameter setting related to the said purchase
advertisement, whether the constraint requirement or other
information related to the said purchase advertisement is put in
the seller's report. Correspondingly, the buyer's report developer
408 is arranged to define, on the basis of a parameter setting
related to the said sales advertisement, whether the distinguishing
feature or other information related to the sales advertisement is
put in the buyer's report 409.
[0088] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the buyer's report developer 408 carries out a screening function,
by means of which the potential buyer can define the kind of
information that is shown in the buyer's report 409; such as the
maximum number of sales advertisements presented, the highest
allowable age of the sales advertisements, etc. Furthermore, the
screening function offers the potential buyer an opportunity to
make personal demands on the sales advertisements presented in the
buyer's report 409. For example, the potential buyer can deny the
presentation of the sales advertisements, the distinguishing
features of which satisfy the constraint requirements of the
purchase advertisement well enough, but which do not directly show
the contact information to the potential seller. Correspondingly,
the seller's report developer 410 can carry out a screening
function, which can be used by the potential seller to define the
kind of information that is shown in the seller's report 411; such
as the maximum number of purchase advertisements presented, the
highest allowable age of the purchase advertisement, etc.
Furthermore, the screening function offers the potential seller an
opportunity to make personal demands on the purchase advertisements
presented in the seller's report 411.
[0089] The system according to one embodiment of the invention
comprises a public presentation controller 414, which is arranged
to determine, on the basis of one or more parameter settings
related to the purchase advertisement, whether the said purchase
advertisement is presented fully or partly in public.
Correspondingly, the public presentation controller 414 is arranged
to determine, on the basis of one or more parameter settings
related to the sales advertisement, whether the said sales
advertisement is presented fully or partly in public. Furthermore,
the said public presentation controller 414 is arranged to
determine, on the basis of a parameter setting related to the
purchase advertisement, whether a certain constraint requirement or
other information related to the purchase advertisement is shown in
public and, correspondingly, on the basis of a parameter setting
related to the said sales advertisement, whether a distinguishing
feature or other information related to the said sales
advertisement is shown in public.
[0090] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the comparing element 407 is capable of determining, on the basis
of a parameter setting related to the sales advertisement, whether
a certain distinguishing feature related to the said sales
advertisement is conditional or unconditional, and processing the
conditional distinguishing feature in the way described earlier in
this document.
[0091] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
after a new sales advertisement has been placed, the comparing
element 407 selects, on the basis of the distinguishing features
related to the said new sales advertisement and the constraint
requirements of the purchase advertisements in the data base, the
potential buyers, who have placed a purchase advertisement and to
whom a notification of change 413 can be sent, concerning the
distinguishing features and the constraint requirements. The
notification of change is sent to the potential buyer, who has
placed a certain notification of inclination to buy, if the
comparing element 407 allows the sending of the notification of
change, the parameter settings of the new sales advertisement allow
the sending of the notification of change, i.e., the new sales
advertisement is public or limited, and the reporting settings
corresponding to the said purchase advertisement allow the
presentation of the sales advertisement in question. The
notifications of change 413 are produced by a change notification
developer 412, after which they are sent to the selected potential
buyers. The effect of the parameter settings can be clarified by
means of the seller's and buyer's report developers before or after
the comparison of the distinguishing features and the constraint
requirements. For example, the notification of change can be a
buyer's or seller's report or a standard message corresponding to
the changed situation. The notification of change can be sent, for
example, by e-mail or as a text message (SMS) to a mobile phone.
Correspondingly, the notifications of change can be sent to the
potential sellers selected by a corresponding procedure after a new
purchase advertisement has been placed.
[0092] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
after changing a distinguishing feature or other information of the
sales advertisement, the comparing element 407 selects, on the
basis of the distinguishing features related to the said changed
sales advertisement and the constraint requirements of the purchase
advertisements in the data base, those potential buyers, who have
placed a purchase advertisement and to whom a notification of
change 413 can be sent with regard to the distinguishing features
and the constraint requirements. A notification of change is sent
to the potential buyer, who has placed a certain notification of
inclination to buy, if the comparing element 407 allows the sending
of the notification of change, the parameter settings of the
changed sales advertisement allow the sending of the notification
of change, i.e., the changed sales advertisement is public or
limited, and the reporting settings corresponding to the said
purchase advertisement allow the showing of the sales advertisement
in question. The notifications of change 413 are produced by the
change notification developer 412, after which they are sent to the
selected potential buyers. Correspondingly, the notifications of
change can be sent to the potential sellers selected by a
corresponding procedure after changing the purchase
advertisement.
[0093] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
after removing a sales advertisement, the comparing element 407
selects, on the basis of the distinguishing features related to the
said removed sales advertisement and the constraint requirements of
the purchase advertisements in the data base, the potential buyers,
who have placed a purchase advertisement and to whom the
notification of change 413 can be sent with regard to the
distinguishing features and the constraint requirements. A
notification of change is sent to the potential buyer, who has
placed a certain notification of inclination to buy, if the
comparing element 407 allows the sending of the notification of
change, the parameter settings of the removed sales advertisement
allow the sending of the notification of change, i.e., the removed
sales advertisement is public or limited, and the reporting
settings corresponding to the said purchase advertisement would
allow the showing of the sales advertisement in question. The
notifications of change 413 are produced by the change notification
developer 412, after which they are sent to the selected potential
buyers. Correspondingly, the notifications of change can be sent to
the potential sellers selected by a corresponding procedure after
removing the purchase advertisement.
[0094] FIG. 5 shows hardware, by which the system presented in FIG.
4 can be implemented for offering the automated searching service
based on the data network on the real estate market. The hardware
comprises a server unit 501, by which the purchase advertisement
developer 401, the sales advertisement developer 405, the comparing
element 407, the buyer's report developer 408, the seller's report
developer 410, the change notification developer 412 and the public
presentation controller 414 shown in FIG. 4 are implemented.
Furthermore, the server unit 501 is used to administer duplex data
transfer to one or more memory units 502 and 503, which are used to
implement the advertisement data base and the brochure data
base.
[0095] The server unit 501 is used to implement the data lines to
the terminal devices 505 to 507 of the users through the data
network 504, whereby the potential buyers and sellers and other
quarters can, through these data lines, use the purchase
advertisement developer, the sales advertisement developer, the
buyer's report developer, the seller's report developer, browse
through the data bases implemented by one or more memory units 502,
503, and place reporting requests. The data network 504 can be the
public Internet and the data lines in question can be implemented
by using the TCP/IP protocol. The server unit 501 can further send
the seller's and buyer's reports to an e-mail server 508, from
where the potential buyers and sellers can retrieve, through the
data network 504, the seller's and buyer's reports that belong to
the respective quarters, utilizing the conventional email
protocols.
[0096] In the system according to one embodiment of the invention,
the functions described above are implemented using a computer
program; the information contained by its programmatic means, such
as the state machine structures and the functions, being readable
by one or more processors of the server unit 501, and its
programmatic means making the said one or more processors carry out
the functions described above. The said computer program for
offering the searching service operating in the data network on the
real estate market contains at least the following programmatic
means:
[0097] a programmatic means for producing a sales advertisement
provided with one or more distinguishing features of the object on
sale in the advertisement data base,
[0098] a programmatic means for producing, in the advertisement
data base, a purchase advertisement provided with one or more
constraint requirements of the object being searched for,
[0099] a programmatic means for producing a seller's report
corresponding to the sales advertisement,
[0100] a programmatic means for producing a buyer's report
corresponding to the purchase advertisement, and
[0101] a programmatic means for determining, on the basis of the
distinguishing features of the sales advertisement and the
constraint requirements of the purchase advertisement, whether the
sales advertisement in question can be selected in the buyer's
report corresponding to the purchase advertisement in question, and
whether the purchase advertisement in question can be selected in
the seller's report corresponding to the sales advertisement in
question.
[0102] In the system according to an alternative embodiment of the
invention, part of the functions described above is implemented
using application specific integration circuits (ASIC) designed for
a certain function, and part of the functions described above is
implemented by the programmatic means. One advantage of the
application specific integration circuits is their higher rate of
performance than that of the programmable processor.
[0103] As is obvious to those skilled in the art, the invention and
its embodiments are not limited to the embodiment examples
described above but the invention and its embodiments can be
modified within the independent claims.
* * * * *
References